Readers Write (Oct. 14): Minnesota Lynx gear, health insurance, Grand Avenue parking, debates on cable TV

My wife and I recently bought Minnesota Lynx tickets to their first playoff finals game against the Indiana Fever. We planned to show our support by wearing Lynx T-shirts to the game. The Lynx are Minnesota's most successful professional team, having won two championships in the past five years and nearing a potential third, so how difficult could it be to buy some Lynx merchandise? Turns out, very difficult.

Store after store informed us that it didn't carry Lynx gear, but that it did carry gear from every other professional Minnesota sports team. No Lynx gear at the major sporting chains, like Sports Authority, or even the smaller local sports stores. Despite being the sponsor of the arena in which the Lynx play, no Lynx gear at Target, either. We could find Lynx gear only at two stores: ProImage at the Mall of America carried a few things, and the Timberwolves and Lynx ProShop at Target Center. That's it.

We started wondering:  What's the deal with Minnesota sports stores not supporting the Lynx? Do other states support their WNBA teams better? We called around to sports stores in Indiana to see if they carried gear from the Lynx's opposing team, the Indiana Fever. We called Finish Line, the main sponsor of the Fever. Surely, they must carry Indiana Fever gear. But alas, they don't, even though their logo is front and center on the Fever jerseys.

We are disappointed by this, but not surprised. Inequality in women's sports has long been the status quo. Whether it's inequality in pay, time spent covered in the media or media portrayal as sex symbols vs. athletic heroes. Add lack of available merchandise as one more inequality on this list. Some sports stores may argue that this is an issue of supply and demand and that there simply isn't the demand for Lynx gear. However, even in 2011, the first year the Lynx won the championship, Lynx merchandise was nowhere to be found. In other words, has there ever been a supply to even test the demand?

We're not going to fix the gender disparity in professional sports overnight, but we don't think it's too much to ask for our local sporting stores to support all of their local teams. So what do you say sports stores? Perhaps carrying the gear of our Minnesota champions, the Lynx, would be a step in the right direction.

Jordan Rullo and Amy Westberg, St. Paul

Editor's note: The Lynx will play the Fever for the WNBA championship at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Target Center.

MinnesotaCare should be opened up to all Minnesotans, regardless of age or income. This would help balance out the risk pool. The MNsure exchange would have real choice. Consumers could use federal subsidies to help purchase MinnesotaCare.

The costs of this plan could be reined in by creating a purpose-driven health insurance plan instead of a profit-driven plan. The agency could be a public/private entity that could use the strengths of both models. All of us are consumers of health care, so in the long run we will all benefit from affordable coverage — especially as we reach our retirement age. We should at least include this in the dialogue.

Robert Anderson, Bloomington

St. Paul's proposed use of parking meters on Grand Avenue between Ayd Mill Road and Dale Street was made with no transparency nor consultation with neighborhood residents or businesses ("Meters make sense for busy Grand Av.," Oct 12, and "St. Paul mayor to talk meters," Oct. 13). Slipped into the draft budget to supply a revenue stream, it shows disdain for democracy — and for the impact on our daily lives. Meters requiring $2 in the evening at each location to visit the hardware store or to buy a loaf of bread pushes us away from our local merchants to ones with big parking lots and more stormwater runoff. Our neighborhood is not just a tourist destination; it's been my family's home for 27 years. While we do appreciate its architecture, amenities, bike racks and schools, we have many people who aren't rich but who put a lot of time and energy into making the community ecological and supportive of each other. Seniors, new parents and renters can't afford an added tax. They need a place to park a car that they use for basic mobility, work or just to cart their infants when picking up necessities. Icy uphill streets, street crime and infrequent bus service (nonexistent on weekends) on St. Clair Avenue make it very unlikely that meters will cause a mass conversion to buses or walking to Grand Avenue. And to tell the truth, when was the last time the Star Tribune Editorial Board members with arthritis in their knees or the budget planners carried a 40-pound bag of potting soil home on their backs?

Susanne Spitzer, St. Paul

Gail Van der Linden, Minneapolis

A suggestion, and a question, for the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Betsy Hodges: If the purpose of Indigenous Peoples Day is to honor them, then I suggest you proclaim an entire month, not just a day, and use that month to educate and honor. If business owners will have to give 14-day notice to employees, will employees have to give some sort of notice to employers before taking a paid (or unpaid) sick day? How much notice will employees have to give employers regarding an emergency medical leave? I just do not understand the complete lack of common sense regarding both issues.